- The Union HRD ministry has asked states and Union territories to ensure that the weight of school bags follow set norms and also that kids in classes 1 and 2 do not have homework.
- It asked the states to quickly come up with those of their own, or follow the ones already put in place by Telangana or Maharashtra models.
- According to the Telangana model, for students in classes 1 and 2 the maximum weight of the school bag should be 1.5 kg; 2-3 kg for classes 3 and 4; for those in classes 6 to 7, 4 kg; for those studying in classes 8 and 9, 4.5 kg; and for those in class 10, 5 kg.
- Maharashtra’s policy is that the weight of a bag should not exceed 10% of a student’s weight.
- These directions were issued following a direction of the Madras high court which directed the Centre to formulate a policy on school bags.
- After he court order, the ministry formed a panel comprising experts from CBSE, NCERT, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan and other bodies to formulate a draft policy in this regard.
